After the EU’s antitrust case against Microsoft for ‘abusing its dominant position’ in the browsers usage share by bundling Internet Explorer along with Windows 7, Microsoft has decided to ship an “E” version of Windows 7 for European countries which won’t come with any browser. This made many users wonder how they’ll be able to obtain a browser (from the internet) since there’s no way to browse the internet in the first place!
Microsoft has provided instructions for installing the Windows 7 E editions on the Windows 7 (United Kingdom) website. The instructions included the additional step of saving a preferred browser on a storage medium (CD/DVD, USB or external hard drive…) before installing Windows and obviously, reinstalling it once the setup is complete. This means that users will not be provided with a list of browsers to choose from after installing Windows 7 as some expected (or wished).
If you’d like to save and install your preferred browser before installing a Windows 7 E edition, simply:
- Download your preferred browser (ordered depending on usage share according to the Wikipedia):
- Copy installation file to a storage medium (e.g. memory stick, CD, etc.)
- Install Windows 7
- Install the browser and start browsing the internet!
| Internet Explorer | http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx |
|---|---|
| Firefox | http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ie.html?from=getfirefox |
| Safari | http://www.apple.com/safari/ |
| Chrome | http://www.google.com/chrome |
| Opera | http://www.opera.com/ |
It is also expected that browsers may be sold on CDs with the operating system, as Neowin mentioned:
Microsoft has made Internet Explorer 8 available for order, on disk. The disk costs £3.44, excluding VAT. For many users, this will not be necessary, but Amazon.de is offering the Internet Explorer 8 disk as an extra anyway, for €3.99. Firefox is also available to order, from the Mozilla Store.
However, there isn’t sufficient information available yet about this issue. Lastly, there will be a Windows 7 “N” version which is similar to the “E” version, but excludes the Windows Media Player as well.
